Alfred Russel Wallace 



9 St. Mark's Crescent, N,W. January 20, 1869. 



Dear Darwin, — It will give me very great pleasure if 

 you will allow me to dedicate my little book of Malayan 

 Travels to you, although it will be far too small and un- 

 pretending a work to be worthy of that honour. Still, I 

 have done what I can to make it a vehicle for communi- 

 cating a taste for the higher branches of Natural History, 

 and I know that you will judge it only too favourably. 

 We are in the middle of the second volume, and if the 

 printers will get on, shall be out next month. 



Have you seen in the last number of the Quarterly 

 Journal of Science the excellent remarks on Fraser's 

 article on Natural Selection failing as to Man ? In one 

 page it gets to the heart of the question, and I have 

 written to the editor to ask who the author is. 



My friend Spruce's paper on Palms is to be read to- 

 morrow evening at the Linnean. He tells me it contains 

 a discovery which he calls *^ alteration of function.'* He 

 found a clump of Geonema all of which were females, and 

 the next year the same clump were all males! He has 

 found other facts analogous to this, and I have no doubt 

 the subject is one that will interest you. 



Hoping you are pretty well and are getting on steadily 

 with your next volumes, and with kind regards to Mrs. 

 Darwin and all your circle, believe me, dear Darwin, yours 

 very faithfully, Alfred K. Wallace. 



P.S. — Have you seen the admirable article in the 

 Guardian (!) on Lyell's ^' Principles '' ? It is most excellent 

 and liberal. It is written by the Eev. Geo. Buckle, of 

 Tiverton Vicarage, Bath, whom I met at Norwich and 

 found a thoroughly scientific and liberal parson. Per- 

 haps you have heard that I have undertaken to write an 

 article for the Quarterly (!) on the same subject, to make 



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